Spider-Man 2

Call it Grand Theft Spider-Man. And call it damn fine.

The technology is impressive. Treyarch's landscape is not without its flaws, many of the same kind Rockstar encountered with Grand Theft Auto , but it's not only quite marvelous to watch, it's integrated ingeniously. Diving from a 140-foot skyscraper as Spider-Man is awesome. Using a new web-slinging method which requires a skilful use of the jump button, players find that web-slinging is skill based and wildly addicting. It engenders an amazing sense of freedom and exhilaration. Treyarch nailed the peculiar sense of elasticity and athleticism that was so brilliantly captured in the Spider-Man movie, while capturing a dazzling sense of aerial freedom like no other game has before it. If you ever played Radical Games' The Hulk, you might remember how it cheated on Hulk's awesome jumping ability. You never got to jump like Hulk did. Treyarch not only doesn't cheat in Spider-Man 2, it specializes in creating a sense of fluid body-flinging goodness that unquestionably outperforms all previous Spider-Man games like an Olympic Gold Metal sprinter outrunning a high school running star. Spider-Man 2 unquestioably succeeds in creating a better, more seamless GTA-like experience than True Crime: Streets of LA.

Gameplay After a good couple of hours goofing around with Spider-Man 2, however, the elation of slinging around the neighborhood wears a bit thin. Part of what brings you down is the game's repetition. Spider-Man 2 is open in design, that is, it's open to travel through, but to progress you have to engage in all those little crime-stopping missions that seem to matter so pointless. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, wherein players have the freedom to choose taxi, fireman, telephone booth, or police missions, players must play the civilian mission here. It's forced.

See, the game is broken up into chapters. To progress through the story you have to get to distinct mission locales and to earn Hero Points. The game's currency, Hero Points, is the crux of how this game differs from Rockstar's in structure and in its goal. You have to earn those points to progress. This wouldn't be so bad, even if it is forced, but the mission types are very limited, and only after a few hours you'll be scratching your head in wonder, saying, "Is that it?"

There are essentially six kinds of missions that you'll play endlessly. They are: Rescue the cops from a shootout, chase the bad guys in a stolen car, stop a robbery, save a civilian from falling from a tall structure, deliver an injured person to a hospital, and save people from a sinking boat. There are minor derivations, such as getting ambushed, stopping road rage, retrieving a stolen purse or a briefcase, and saving kids' balloons. But they're really just simple derivations on a theme. To elucidate even further, these missions derivate so little from one another, it's a little embarrassing. The cutscenes are nearly identical, the models exactly the same, and the voice acting dips way below the campy feel the team was going for. This is sub-par camp dialog and delivery at its least compelling. In short, you'll quickly grow bored of these missions.